A modern way of treating bee families against varroaatosis

Abstract

In the USSR, the gamase mite Varroa jacobsoni (Oudemans) was first found on Middle Indian bees (Apis cerana F.). Mites from this bee species have also spread to the species Apis mellifera L. In the plans for breed testing introduced in all apiaries of the USSR, bee queens and packages with bees from the Far East infected with varroaatosis appeared. In a short time, the infestation has appeared in all apiaries from Vladivostok to Brest. Numerous medicines are now produced for various bee diseases, which are used uncontrollably for treatment and prophylaxis. Each drug carries a great danger if it enters the human body with food. What harms the parasite will also harm the host. Therefore, all medicines weaken the immunity of bees, making them even more vulnerable. The Department of Biology, Bioresources and Aquaculture at Novosibirsk State Agrarian University has for the firsttime developed methods of treating bees without the use of drugs. Varroatosis was controlled by heat treatment. During the thermal treatment of the apiary, 200 to 1,000 mites were counted per apiary. The average mite incidence in an apiary was 2.82 % (0.35 to 8.5 %). The results of the thermal treatment of bee colonies have shown that it is a labour-intensive treatment, but it is available to every farmer and beekeeper and can be used effectively against mites and viruses even in production apiaries where there is no special room. We have found that viral diseases are spread by the mite and that this process is exacerbated by unfavourable conditions.